Start-Up NY adds three Hudson Valley companies

Three companies partnering with Ulster Community College in Kingston and Dutchess County Community College in Poughkeepsie are among 39 businesses added to the Start-Up NY program, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced.

Those businesses have committed to create 817 new jobs and invest more than $30 million statewide over the next five years, he said.

Start-Up NY offers a 10-year reprieve from state and local taxes to new or expanding businesses in the state if they move their operations to school campuses and other specified locations in New York  in partnerships with public and private colleges. Cuomo said the initiative has commitments from 202 companies to create at least 4,490 new jobs and invest more than $251 million over the next three to five years throughout the state.

Partnering with Ulster Community College in Kingston, information technology company Anchor ID Inc. plans to add 15 jobs and invest $75,000. The Kingston company has developed an authentication platform for businesses that eliminates passwords for computer systems, providing a better user experience and high compliance, according to state officials.

Ulster Community College is also partnering with Up Homes, a formative-stage company that will design and sell energy-efficient manufactured and modular homes. The company will create seven jobs and invest $575,000.

At Dutchess County Airport in Wappingers Falls, FlightLevel Dutchess LLC, a fixed-base operator, will create seven jobs and invest $310,000. The aviation services company, which sells aviation fuels and manages space for storing aircraft, will expand its airport business by opening a maintenance operation. The company will also partner with Dutchess Community College to offer a mechanics training program.

“This program continues to attract companies with visionary goals to every region of our state and is playing a key role in revitalizing those communities,” Cuomo said, adding that the program’s model of partnerships between companies and colleges “not only creates new jobs, but also leverages hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment to stimulate regional growth.”